“And now that power, which respects nothing, has crept into the sanctuary of the Church.  Our rector recognizes it, I recognize it,—­there is not a man here who, in his heart, misunderstands me.  And when a man is found who has the courage to stand up against it, I honour him with all my soul, and a hope that was almost dead revives in me.  For there is one force, and one force alone, able to overcome the power of which I speak, —­the Spirit of Christ.  And the mission of the Church is to disseminate that spirit.  The Church is the champion on which we have to rely, or give up all hope of victory.  The Church must train the recruits.  And if the Church herself is betrayed into the hands of the enemy, the battle is lost.

“If Mr. Hodder is forced out of this church, it would be better to lock the doors.  St. John’s will be held up, and rightfully, to the scorn of the city.  All the money in the world will not save her.  Though crippled, she has survived one disgrace, when she would not give free shelter to the man who above all others expressed her true spirit, when she drove Horace Bentley from her doors after he had been deprived of the fortune which he was spending for his fellow-men.  She will not survive another.

“I have no doubt Mr. Parr’s motion to take from Mr. Hodder his living will go through.  And still I urge him not to resign.  I am not a rich man, even when such property as I have is compared to moderate fortunes of these days, but I would pay his salary willingly out of my own pocket rather than see him go . . . .

“I call the attention of the Chairman,” said Eldon Parr, after a certain interval in which no one had ventured to speak, “to the motion before the vestry relating to the discontinuance of Mr. Hodder’s salary.”

It was then that the unexpected happened.  Gordon Atterbury redeemed himself.  His respect for Mr. Waring, he said, made him hesitate to take issue with him.

He could speak for himself and for a number of people in the congregation when he reiterated his opinion that they were honestly shocked at what Mr. Hodder had preached, and that this was his sole motive in requesting Mr. Hodder to resign.  He thought, under the circumstances, that this was a matter which might safely be left with the bishop.  He would not vote to deprive Mr. Hodder of his salary.

The motion was carried by a vote of five to three.  For Eldon Parr well knew that his will needed no reenforcement by argument.  And this much was to be said for him, that after he had entered a battle he never hesitated, never under any circumstances reconsidered the probable effect of his course.